Edcanvas is a great way for your students to create slide shows. Instead of slides, though, they are called tiles. Edcanvas uses a drag ‘n drop interface that makes it easy to insert images, videos, and websites. In the sidebar on the right, you will see a G for Google, just type in what you are searching for and images will appear for you to choose from. Just drag the image you want to an empty tile. If you want to insert a link to a website, click on the globe icon. You can also create text or quiz tiles.

My Robotics I class used Edcanvas for their presentations on the history of robotics yesterday. I was really impressed with their work and how easy it was for them to present. You can set up individual classes for the students to automatically save their work. Just click on classes from the sidebar on the left of the home page. After you type in the name of your class and click Add, you will see a code that you can give your students to use to add your class. When it was time for the presentations, I logged into my account, clicked on the correct class, and selected the group’s canvas to present. To present, just click Play on the upper lefthand side. Use the arrow on the right hand side of the tile to advance.

I will definitely use Edcanvas again for class presentations. Today, I noticed that Edcanvas has changed its name to Blendspace.

Preview has the capability to combine two or more pdf files into one file. Open the first pdf in Preview. Click the Thumbnails button (second button on upper right hand of screen). Open Finder, drag the second pdf that you want to add to the thumbnails side pane and release when you see the + appear. You should now see pages from both pdfs. You can reorder the pages simply by dragging them to the correct location in the side pane.

If you are posting your videos to Moodle, you may find that some of your videos are too large to post. If the video exceeds 100MB, you can choose to convert the video in Evom using medium quality instead of high. The ones I have converted using this option look and sound just as good and the files are half the size.

I wanted to post a Kuta worksheet in Moodle without the answer sheet and without having to do any scanning. So my google search led me to this link: Delete pages in a PDF document. The trick though is to change the view so that you can see the side pane that lets you select a page and delete it simply by pressing the delete key. The view buttons are on the upper right hand side of the Preview window. The second one shows the pane.

I discovered that I can create a practice quiz that students can take an unlimited amount of times using thatquiz.org. I created a class named Geometry and entered one student, named Student One. I created my practice quiz and then assigned it to that class. I clicked See Tests, then clicked on the practice test. In the upper right hand corner, there’s a link to the URL for practice only. If you click Fixed under the Order heading, it will change and scramble the questions.

The practice test I created is on special segments in triangles and their points of concurrency. I used the Slides option and used the program to draw my own diagrams. The practice test is included in my Triangles LiveBinder under the Geometry heading.

If you choose to enter your students in the class management system it will not record practice scores. I found that out in their blog, which is very informative.

During my search to find interactive proofs, I decided to create my own in GeoGebra. I wanted something low pressure and user-friendly to ease students into proving triangles are congruent. So I scrambled the statements and reasons so students can arrange the parts to complete the proof. The proofs could also be used as a whole class activity with a SmartBoard allowing volunteers to arrange the parts. Here are the links to the first proof and the second proof. I wasn’t able to quickly add the segment notation so I left it off, reminding the students that it should be there and the statements and reasons are typically numbered.

thatquiz.org is a really cool, free website that provides interactive practice with immediate feedback for math, geography, vocabulary, and science. It allows for multiple tries if you want to set a score for the students to achieve. Each quiz has settings that can be modified to create new quizzes, so be sure to check out all the options. You can use it as is, or join for free and use their class management system.

Once you join, you can also create your own quizzes. I haven’t tried it yet, but the slide option for creating quizzes looks especially interesting. I decided not to use the class management system when I realized I would have to delete a student’s score if they wanted to retake the quiz. The multiple tries part is the best feature to me, especially since it automatically regenerates the questions. I generally give the practice as a warmup or practice after student’s have watched the lesson’s first video. As students finish, they call me over and show me their score.

I’ve included several of these quizzes in my LiveBinders. Once I select the options I want, I select Make URL and copy and paste the link into one of my LiveBinder tabs.